Ship of the line Nelson’s flagship HMS Victory was typical of ships of her day, although she was already 40 years old at Trafalgar. It took six years and around 6,000 trees - mostly oak - to build Victory. She was 227ft (69.3m) long, 51ft (15.8m) at her widest point and armed with 104 guns. The crew of more than 800 included around 100 officers of various ranks.